Lesson 190: ~(으)나 마나: To be Pointless

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Vocabulary

Nouns:
시 = poem

Common Usages:
시인 = poet
시집 = poetry collection

Examples:
이 시는 의미를 너무 함축해서 읽으나 마나 이해 못 해요
= This poem is so full of implications that it’s impossible to understand even if you read it

그의 시는 짧지만 인간의 고독과 희망을 깊이 있게 표현하고 있어요
= His poems are short but express human loneliness and hope with great depth

일환 = a part of

Examples:
이 프로젝트는 정부 계획의 일환으로 진행되고 있어요
= This project is being carried out as part of a government initiative

이 프로젝트는 교육 혁신의 일환으로 추진되는 거라서 성공하나 마나 중요한 의미가 있어요
= This project is part of educational innovation, so whether it succeeds or not, it’s meaningful

산하 = affiliate

Common Usages:
산하 기관 = affiliated organization

Examples:
그 산하 기관에 문의하나 마나야. 결정 권한이 없거든.
= There’s no point in contacting that affiliate agency. They have no authority to decide.

그 회사는 본사 산하에 여러 개의 자회사를 두고 있어요
= The company has several subsidiaries under its headquarters

잠결 = in ones sleep

Examples:
잠결에 한 말은 신경 쓰나 마나야. 기억도 못 해.
= There’s no point caring about what you say in your sleep. Nobody will even remember it.

잠결에 들은 소리가 너무 생생해서 꿈인지 현실인지 헷갈렸어요
= The sound I heard in my sleep was so vivid that I couldn’t tell if it was a dream or reality

은혜 = grace, favor, kindness

Common Usages:
은혜를 입다 = to receive a favor
은혜에 보답하다 = to repay a favor

Examples:
그 은혜는 아무리 애써도 보답하나 마나야
= No matter how hard I try, returning that favor is meaningless

그가 저에게 베푼 은혜를 평생 잊지 않을 거에요
= I will never forget the kindness he showed me for as long as I live

권한 = authority, power

Common Usages:
권한이 주어지다 = to be given authority
권한 부여 = granting authority

Examples:
그 직책을 준 것은 권한을 부여한 셈이에요
= Giving that position basically means you’ve authorized them

그 산하 기관에 문의하나 마나야. 결정 권한이 없거든.
= There’s no point in contacting that affiliate agency. They have no authority to decide.

관제 = control

Common Usages:
관제탑 = control tower

Examples:
교통 관제 센터는 실시간으로 모든 차량의 움직임을 모니터링하고 있어요
= The traffic control center monitors the movement of all vehicles in real time

이 구역은 이미 자동 관제 시스템이 작동 중이라서 사람이 개입하나 마나야
= Since the automatic control system is already in place, human intervention is pointless

맹목 = blindness

Common Usages:
맹목적인 비난 = blind criticism

Examples:
그의 판단은 맹목적인 믿음에서 비롯된 것이었어요
= His judgment stemmed from blind faith

맹목적 = blindly obedient

Common Usages:
맹목적인 비난 = blind criticism

Examples:
맹목적으로 따르나 마나야. 잘못된 길이니까.
= Following blindly is pointless. It’s the wrong path.

요즘 사람들은 핸드폰에 맹목적으로 의지해서 전화번호를 더 이상 외우지 않아요
= People these days are so blindly reliant on their phones that they don’t memorize phone numbers anymore

내리막 = downward slope

Common Usages:
내리막길을 걷다 = to go downhill

Examples:
이제 내리막길을 내려가니 더 천천히 가야 돼요
= Now we’re going down a downward slope, so you should go slower

이 내리막길에서는 브레이크를 밟으나 마나 속도를 줄일 수가 없어요
= On this downhill road, hitting the brakes is useless, you can’t slow down anyway

오르막 = upward slope

Examples:
이런 가파른 오르막에서는 천천히 가나 마나 금방 지치게 돼요
= On a steep uphill like this, whether you go slowly or not, you’ll get tired quickly anyway

우리 학교에 가려면 오르막길에 올라가야 돼서 걷기가 힘들어요
= If you want to go to our school, you need to go up a hill, so it is hard

보고서 = report paper

Common Usages:
보고서 작성 = report preparation
보고서 제출 = report submission

Examples:
이 프로젝트에 대한 보고서를 내일까지 작성해야 해요
= We need to write a report on this project by tomorrow

이 보고서는 내용이 너무 미흡해서 읽으나 마나야
= This report is so lacking in content that it’s not worth reading.

Verbs:
함축하다 = to imply

Common Usages:
의미를 함축하다 = to imply meaning

Examples:
이 시는 의미를 너무 함축해서 읽으나 마나 이해 못 해요
= This poem is so full of implications that it’s impossible to understand even if you read it

그의 발언은 많은 의미를 함축하고 있어서 듣는 사람에게 많은 생각을 하게 했어요
= His remark carried a lot of meaning and made listeners reflect deeply

항복하다 = to surrender

Examples:
이 전쟁에서는 우리가 항복하나 마나 결과는 똑같아요
= In this war, whether we surrender or not, the result will be the same

전세가 불리해지자 군대는 결국 항복을 선언했어요
= When the battle turned against them, the army finally surrendered

보답하다 = to return a favor

Common Usages:
사랑에 보답하다 = to return someone’s love

Examples:
그 은혜는 아무리 애써도 보답하나 마나야
= No matter how hard I try, returning that favor is meaningless

여러분의 사랑에 보답하는 가수가 될게요
= I’ll become a singer who repays all of your love

기증하다 = to donate

Common Usages:
전재산을 기증하다 = to donate one’s entire fortune
장기기증 = organ donation

Examples:
이미 망가진 기계는 기증하나 마나 누구도 쓰질 못해
= A broken machine, whether you donate it or not, no one can use it anyway

그는 유품을 박물관에 기증해 많은 사람들에게 감동을 주었어요
= He donated his belongings to the museum, moving many people

문의하다 = to inquire, to ask

Common Usages:
문의 전화 = inquiry call
계획을 추진하다 = to push a plan forward

Examples:
그 산하 기관에 문의하나 마나야. 결정 권한이 없거든.
= There’s no point in contacting that affiliate agency. They have no authority to decide.

그 고객은 환불 절차에 대해 문의하기 위해 전화를 걸었어요
= The customer called to inquire about the refund process

추진하다 = to promote, to push forward with a plan

Common Usages:
추진력 = driving force, momentum

Examples:
회사는 신제품 개발을 적극적으로 추진하고 있어요
= The company is actively pushing forward with new product development

개입하다 = to intervene, to interfere

Common Usages:
제삼자가 개입하다 = to have a third party intervene

Examples:
논란에는 항상 제삼자가 개입된다
= A third party is always involved in the controversy

이 구역은 이미 자동 관제 시스템이 작동 중이라서 사람이 개입하나 마나야
= Since the automatic control system is already in place, human intervention is pointless

Adjectives:
미흡하다 = to be insufficient, to be unsatisfactory

Examples:
이 보고서는 내용이 너무 미흡해서 읽으나 마나야
= This report is so lacking in content that it’s not worth reading.

이번 보고서는 내용이 다소 미흡하다는 평가를 받았어요
= This report was evaluated as somewhat insufficient in content

Introduction

In this lesson, you will continue to learn about ~(으)나 by looking at another way that it can be used. In this lesson, you will see it used with 말다 to create 하나 마나. Let’s get started.

~(으)나 마나: To be Pointless

In Lesson 167, you saw a quick review of the verb 말다 and from Lesson 167 to Lesson 169, you saw a variety of ways that 말다 is used. For example:

Lesson 167: ~ㄹ/을 까 말까
Lesson 168: ~거나 말거나
Lesson 169: ~ㄹ/을락 말락

You can see that 말다 is often used with certain grammatical principles, where something is attached to a verb, and then followed by 말다 with that same grammatical principle attached. You can also attach ~(으)나 to a verb and then follow that with 말다 + ~(으)나. The resulting grammatical principle looks like this:

~(으)나 마나

In the past two lessons, you saw different ways that ~(으)나 can be used. This usage is specifically the one that was introduced in Lesson 189. In this meaning, ~(으)나 indicates that the result will be the same regardless of which option occurs.

~(으)나 마나 indicates the idea that doing something is pointless or unnecessary because the result is obvious. Here is a simple example sentence:

그 얘기는 하나 마나 다 아는 이야기예요
= That story is obvious, there is no point even saying it

Here, the speaker is using ~(으)나 마나 to express that the action in the first clause is pointless or unnecessary because the outcome in the second clause is already obvious, unavoidable, or unaffected. Below are many more examples:

이미 망가진 기계는 기증하나 마나 누구도 쓰질 못해
= A broken machine, whether you donate it or not, no one can use it anyway

이 전쟁에서는 우리가 항복하나 마나 결과는 똑같아요
= In this war, whether we surrender or not, the result will be the same

이 시는 의미를 너무 함축해서 읽으나 마나 이해 못 해요
= This poem is so full of implications that it’s impossible to understand even if you read it

이런 가파른 오르막에서는 천천히 가나 마나 금방 지치게 돼요
= On a steep uphill like this, whether you go slowly or not, you’ll get tired quickly anyway

이 내리막길에서는 브레이크를 밟으나 마나 속도를 줄일 수가 없어요
= On this downhill road, hitting the brakes is useless, you can’t slow down anyway

~(으)나 마나이다

It is also possible to use ~(으)나 마나 at the end of a sentence and predicate it by attaching 이다 to it. This is very conversational, as it requires the listener to assume that the situation given in the first clause is pointless. For example:

그 학생한테 부탁하나 마나야
= There’s no point asking that student for a favor

In practice, the speaker would likely follow up this simple sentence by providing the context, but they wouldn’t have to as ~(으)나 마나 technically provides that. For example:

그 학생한테 부탁하나 마나야. 어차피 안 도와줄 거야.
= There’s no point asking that student for a favor. He won’t help anyway.

Below are some more examples:

그 은혜는 아무리 애써도 보답하나 마나야
= No matter how hard I try, returning that favor is meaningless

맹목적으로 따르나 마나야. 잘못된 길이니까.
= Following blindly is pointless. It’s the wrong path.

잠결에 한 말은 신경 쓰나 마나야. 기억도 못 해.
= There’s no point caring about what you say in your sleep. Nobody will even remember it.

이 보고서는 내용이 너무 미흡해서 읽으나 마나야
= This report is so lacking in content that it’s not worth reading.

그 산하 기관에 문의하나 마나야. 결정 권한이 없거든.
= There’s no point in contacting that affiliate agency. They have no authority to decide.

이 구역은 이미 자동 관제 시스템이 작동 중이라서 사람이 개입하나 마나야
= Since the automatic control system is already in place, human intervention is pointless

That’s it for this lesson!

Okay, take me to the next lesson!